Around 343 km southeast of Manila is a growing tourist destination which is the Camarines Norte, Philippines. Not yet very visible on the radar but steadily making its presence felt is a promising place with a lot of things to offer.

Camarines Norte has unique culture and endowed with one of a kind surfing spots, pristine beaches and places that are well-suited for adrenaline pumping adventures. Camarines Norte is indeed a perfect place to visit especially during summer.

Here is a short list of spectacular and splendid tourist destinations in Camarines Norte:

Calaguas Beach

A hidden paradise, Calaguas Beach is unspoiled, unexplored and truly captivating. Its main island is also dubbed as “Mahabang Buhangin,” which means Long Beach, since it is at least one kilometer long and has dazzling powdery and fine white sand and cool and bright green water.

This subtle island can be reached by boat in two hours but it has no resorts or tourist infrastructures. This implies that the visitors must build their own camps or tents and eat their dinner under the lovely stars and moon while feasting on fresh seafood.

Calaguas is best visited from February to September. It is not a nice a idea to build a camp here during the rainy weather though.

Around 343 km southeast of Manila is a growing tourist destination which is the Camarines Norte, Philippines. Not yet very visible on the radar but steadily making its presence felt is a promising place with a lot of things to offer.

Camarines Norte has unique culture and endowed with one of a kind surfing spots, pristine beaches and places that are well-suited for adrenaline pumping adventures. Camarines Norte is indeed a perfect place to visit especially during summer.

Bagasbas Beach

Bagasbas Beach

If you are yearning to surf while in the Philippines, the rustic and quaint town of Daet is a perfect place for you to visit. The waves here consistent all year long and it is ranked 62nd surfing spot in the world. Unlike other surfing spots in the country, Daet can be reached by land and not through air travel.

A perfect fix for surfing beginners since the beach has gentle slopes making it not dangerous. It is also far and wide so that there is ample space for all surfers here.

An annual event which is called Bagasbas Summer Surf is held every April. Everyone can partake on this much-awaited event with just P500 (roughly $12) participation fee. The fee includes a free event t-shirt, a pair of Mojo sandal, surfing lessons and chance to enjoy other activities such as beach volleyball, wall climbing, Frisbee and dodgeball.

Adrenaline pumping kiteboarding

Plunge into kiteboarding action

You may also opt to try an exciting extreme sport which is the kites surfing and kiteboarding, which is an amalgam of surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding through the water while riding with a kite.

Another event here is held every December which is the Daet Kiteboarding International Fest. If you are keen on learning about this adrenaline pumping extreme sport, there is kite boarding lessons offered by Mike’s Kiteboarding Resort.

The vibrant and frenetic Pabirik Festival of Paracale | Source

Festivals, fiestas and celebrations

Last year, the province celebrated the 400th year of Daet’s three parishes. Last February 2, 2011, a celebration was held at the Nuestra Seńora de Candelaria Church in Paracale town. This church was erected by Franciscan missionaries in 1581 and assigned a minister in 1611. Two other celebrations took place last June 24, 2011 at the St. John the Baptist Parish and last June 29, 2011 at the Apostle Parish in Vinzons.

The province also has popular and exciting festivals such as the Pabirik Festival. The highlight of this event is a street dancing which portrays gold mining industry of Paracale. There is also the Bantayog Festival (a province wide event which gives honor to the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal and held during April) and Pinyasan Festival held every June (celebrating one of the province’s main products, which are the pineapples). If you are fond of old churches or taking pictures of street dancing book a trip here on these months.

A nice sweet treat, the angko | Source

Sweet delicacies

Savor the great flavor of the delicacies the province has to offer – There are a lot of must try delicacies, food products here such as the “pili,” food cooked in coconut milk like the “laing,” “tinuktok” (ground shrimp or crap wrapped in “gabi,” leaves and “kinunot” (manta ray or shark meat cooked in coconut milk).

The nice places to eat here at Daet includes Catherine’s Place for grilled fish with mango salsa, Central Plaza Restaurant for Chinese cuisine, King Fisher Restaurant for seafood and “Kusina ni Angel” for home-cooked dishes.

You may also try the sweet delicacies here such as the “angko” (delicious sticky rice ball with peanuts), minatamis (which tastes like peanut butter or the Filipino chocolate).

Other places to visit

There other ways to have some great fun like snorkeling in Quinamanukan Island, caving in Cadig Cave and hiking in the waterfalls of the province.

More by this Author

What is quiz bee? It is one of the events held in schools to test the intellectual capabilities of students in different subjects such as science, mathematics, social science, current events, and general knowledge. Some...

Last July 21, 2011 at around 4:00 pm (Philippine time) the members of the faculty and staff of the school where I earn a living decided to call it time out and tried the newly inaugurated Dawel River Cruise in Dagupan...

The students for sure learn a lot of things in school. The students are cinched to discover, develop and hone skills that will be helpful later in life. The various subjects taught here are also expected to give the...